Reading "white" at the end of Y1, is it within appropriate level?

[B4r4joon]

I just got the most generic school report ever for my daughter!!! She has been reading level white since the start of summer term, and what is in her report is simple: She made good progress in her reading, and she is working within appropriate national curriculum level for her age! (she turned 6 in May!)
I had the impression that she is above, am I wrong?

DS is white band. According to the book band chart I have on my kitchen cupboard and check regularly white band is for approx age 7-8. So it must be slightly ahead of what is expected but not unusual or gifted. There have been several free reader Y1's in DS's class for months now.

An appropriate level IMO is different to expected level iyswim.

Yes, I would say your DD is ahead but not to the point that she is scarily ahead if that makes sense.

DD (yr 1, just turned six so summer baby) is on orange and the teachers seem very happy with her progress (she was on pink for the whole of reception). She did try a cream book once but I couldn't find cream on the list of book band colours online so I don't know what that was about

Sorry the point of my post was that white is good AFAIK!

White level is above what is expected for end of Y1, but not child prodigy level.

However, as part of the reading assessment she also needs to show a variety of skills, such inference, reading in her head, talking about charcters in the story. She might not have fully demonstrated these at school. Do you know her NC level?

Thanks all, for your responses! I don't mean she is exceptionally good, but I felt that it was above average (impressions from the previous teacher who left earlier), Unfortunately I don't know he NC level. It was not in the report at all.

She reads in her head, tells the story in her own words, draw the events, and has a proper understanding of the characters, guesses what the end might be....so she doesnt only recites the words.

PS. She reads lots of books from library that are not banded, like Horried Henry, Raold Dahl books etc....she just loves it..

DD is also Y1 and her report just said whether she was attaining age-related expectations, exceeding them or working towards them in each subject. No NC levels (as I don't have a very clear picture of what these mean, I don't really care and am not sure how useful they are to most parents). So possibly White level reading, while obviously good, falls within the normal spread of what would be expected of that year group but at the top end? Possibly a free reader (depending on what that means in your particular school) would have been judged to be working above expectations as there are relatively few of them in Y1.

White level is a 2A but as redsky says there are other things that the teacher will assess rather than just what book band the child is on.

Well done to your DD, sounds like she is doing well

As has been said I think it is different to say 'within appropriate levels' and 'expected levels' so white is above average, they will be pleased she is doing so well but she doesn't have the reading age of a 12 year old so not extremely unusual.

As Simpson says there are quite a lot of things that have to be assessed alongside reading level for a NC level (not that you have the level but still interesting). Whilst my daughter is reading lime I don't believe she would be at the NC that equates to. She is probably a level or so below it in the 'other' skills that are required.

Agree with the others - 'within appropriate' is a very wide range of book bands at the end of Y1, nothing to do with 'expected'!

There are maybe 2 o3 3 free readers in dd's Y1 class, a couple on lime, a couple on white and then everything down to blue. So I would say she was ahead, but not unusually so.

Which is lovely, IMO

Thx Simpson. I am very happy with her progress, but very disappointed with a very generalised, no detailed one page end of school report!!! I do not see much (apart from 1 or 2 sentences) that I can refer to my child, the rest is X is generally doing this..., no objectivity in the report, no evidence. only the sentence " she has made good progress in her reading" about her reading, without any detail, of what aspect of it has been better or needs more work etc!!!

When I read Reception report last year, I was shocked how the teacher had summarized my child in 2 pages giving evidence and detail about all aspects of her learning. In comparison this one doesn't do anything, and it can be any child TBH.

As a guideline, White is a 2A, but obviously this depends on her comprehension of the text, understanding of complex words, ability to read independently for a sustained period etc

Seems odd to be on White level but only working at the expected level unless there are particular areas she is weaker in. You could query it with her teacher if you are concerned though.

without any detail, of what aspect of it has been better or needs more work etc

I would be quite disappointed with that, tbh. Could you book a meeting with the teacher to discuss more fully or give feedback to the head etc that you were hoping for pointers towards the future as well as just what your child is doing right now. DD's report was pretty detailed, even though no actual levels were reported, with specific examples of good work she had done (and why it was good) and the things she will need to work on next year (eg with reading it was to develop her ability to use expression on more challenging texts, particularly those with more complex punctuation etc). I did get a real sense from reading it that her teacher knows her really well and knows exactly how she's doing and she explained it all in language that was entirely appropriate to share with DD who has been assiduously practising expression in reading and multiplication tables ever since.

www.bassingbourn.cambs.sch.uk/bookbanding.pdf This does suggest that white is above expectations for Y1.

Yes, DD is also on white as are a number of her classmates. They are the top group of kids for reading. White is the highest the school will go in year 1.

So basically, I think your DD is doing well- above "average".

That is how I feel exactly, that teacher doesn't know my child. She is new (came at summer term). For example for her Maths teacher noted that she can recall her number bonds to 10, whereas she is so confident in doing her bonds to 20...and that was what we discussed with previous teacher!!! It simply is not accurate!

Obviously she has not had time to get to know them all....but that is not helpful. What if I were to change school....Or she might be wrongly put in another group with a target that she has already achieved....
I will talk both to the teacher and HT...asking for her NC levels and also Phonics test.

3MonthsMaid, thats what surprises me too...if she is above average in reading why is it not noted (acknowledged and recognized) in her report???

But they're not saying she's average. They're saying she's working at an appropriate level. And reading is only one part of literacy in general. While your daughter's reading skills are good for her age, they are not so far advanced or unusual for the end of Y1 that it would be considered a level that would need special provision etc. So she is doing very well and working at an appropriate Y1 level, albeit at the top end for reading. Possibly her other literacy skills mean that she needs to do more in those areas to achieve an all round level 2a, even if her actual reading is at that level?

I agree that they should give you a better indication of specifics about your child and how she can improve. I would also be a bit fed up if told that my child was doing something that I knew she'd been able to do with ease some time back. Also, do bear in mind that some children may struggle to concentrate in a busy classroom so may not always show everything they can do. I know DD can find it hard to think sometimes when it's noisy or there are a lot of people moving around - but learning to concentrate even under occasionally challenging conditions is also part of learning how to learn.

Don't worry about groups. If you are confident in the school in general, I am sure there will be plenty of opportunity to move between groups as appropriate - I know DD has been moved a couple of times this year.

I would definitely ask for some clarification on how your DD is doing in your shoes.

Also, is it a particularly high achieving school? For some schools White level will not be even particularly far above average at this stage. They may have as many as a third of the class working at this level and above.

HarumScarum, Thanks for the info.
It is a normal state school....they are a group of kids reading at this level in her class, but equally some that are still reading reception book bands.

I dont know exactly how many of them are reading White. It can be 10 out of 30 kids....but it shouldnt mean that their achievement not be recognised, if it is above NC levels. "Within appropriate level for her age" it says.

But that IS an appropriate level (which is different from average). It should, however, say something like 'DD has achieved a good level in reading and her next steps to improve this will be to X, Y and Z', IMO. Also, it should mention if she has made around the required level of progress or more or less, which is independent of what actual level she's achieved. Plus the level she's achieved in reading may be significantly different from what she's achieved in writing or comprehension or speaking and listening or whatever, which are also part of literacy.

I think the report is telling you that your dd is performing fine - slightly above average but don't go looking round oxbridge colleges just yet.

Your DD is only 6!! Sod the colour of her reading book! Does she love reading? Do you read to her regularly? Is she relaxed about her school work or already under pressure to perform?
As parents we need to support our children by encouraging a love of learning not get bogged down from the getgo with performance.
By the way white is perfectly fine for a child of her age!

White is definitely above average.

I would focus on the disappointment with the report overall, tbh, and your concern that the teacher hasn't really got to know your dd yet.

The reading level is a bit of a red herring, in terms of the feedback you're getting.

Reports can be generic and dull and give very little, or they can go the extra mile and have at least a few personal references (ours do). But I have to say, I get a far more accurate picture of how well dds' teachers know them from chatting and/or parent evenings than I do from reports, which are a major chore for the teachers and come across as such!